Key

The ten lights or attributes through which the Emanator acts: Keter, Chochmah, Binah, Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Malchut. Singular: sefirah.

Crown. The first and highest sefirah, the will that precedes thought. In the partzufim it becomes Arich Anpin (and Atik above it).

Wisdom. The second sefirah, the first flash of thought, the point. Its partzuf is Abba (Father). Written with the letter yud of the Name.

Understanding. The third sefirah, where the point of Chochmah expands into a full structure. Its partzuf is Imma (Mother), the womb in which Ze'ir Anpin is conceived. First heh of the Name.

Knowledge. The joining of Chochmah and Binah; not counted among the ten when Keter is counted, counted when Keter is left out. In the kings of Edom it is the first to break.

Kindness. The first of the seven lower sefirot, the right arm, expansion and giving. Abba is clothed in the right arm of Arich Anpin.

Strength, restraint. The left arm, contraction and judgment (din). Source of the five gevurot that sweeten in the Nukva.

Beauty, harmony. The torso and the middle line, balancing Chesed and Gevurah. Ze'ir Anpin as a whole is often called Tiferet.

Victory, endurance. The right leg. With Hod it forms the pair that nurses and carries, "two halves of one body."

Splendor, acknowledgment. The left leg, twin of Netzach. One of the three (Hod, Yesod, Malchut) clarified only during nursing.

Foundation. The channel that gathers everything above and passes it to Malchut; the covenant, the tzadik. Called Chai, "living," because it kept the portion meant for Malchut when the vessels broke.

Kingship. The tenth sefirah, the receiver, the Shekhinah, the Nukva. The last heh of the Name. In the lower world it becomes the Keter of the world below.

"The first three": Keter, Chochmah, Binah, the head of any structure, the mochin. They did not break in the World of Nekudim.

"The lower seven": Chesed through Malchut, the body. These are the seven kings that reigned and died.

"The six extremities": Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, treated as one unit. They become Ze'ir Anpin.

Chochmah, Binah, Da'at: the three mochin, the brains of a partzuf.

Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet: the three middle sefirot, the arms and torso; the "three upper" of the body.

Netzach, Hod, Yesod: the three lower sefirot, the legs and the organ of giving. Whatever is "clothed" in a partzuf is clothed in its NeHiY.

The lights of Da'at divide into five kindnesses and five judgments; the chasadim build the male and the gevurot build the female, who is later sweetened by the chasadim.

"Face" or configuration: a full structure of ten sefirot acting as one personality. After the breaking, the sefirot are rebuilt as five partzufim: Arich Anpin, Abba, Imma, Ze'ir Anpin, Nukva (with Atik Yomin above). Plural: partzufim.

"The Ancient of Days." The highest partzuf, the Malchut of the world above lodged inside the Keter of the world below. Its seven lower sefirot sit inside Arich Anpin. Also simply Atik.

"The Long Face," the patient one. The partzuf of Keter, with three heads, a skull with seven tikunim and a beard with thirteen. His arms clothe Abba and Imma; his legs, folded up, gave rise to Ze'ir Anpin.

Father: the partzuf of Chochmah, clothed in the right arm of Arich Anpin. Receives face to face. Its fallen "back" became Yaakov.

Mother: the partzuf of Binah, clothed in the left arm of Arich Anpin. Conceives, carries and nurses Ze'ir Anpin and the Nukva. Her fallen "back" became Leah.

The lower halves of Abba and Imma, each a partzuf of its own: "Israel the Elder" below Abba, Tevunah below Imma. Ze'ir Anpin receives his mochin through them.

"The Small Face." The partzuf built from the six extremities (Chesed to Yesod), the son of Abba and Imma, the vav of the Name. Identified with the Torah and with the written name Yisrael. Abbreviated ז״א.

The feminine partzuf, Malchut, the Shekhinah, the Bat (daughter), the last heh of the Name. Built from the single point of Malchut and from the five gevurot. Her two aspects are Rachel and Leah.

The main Nukva of Ze'ir Anpin, standing from his chest downward, back to back until the nesirah. The daytime union (Shacharit) is with Rachel.

The upper Nukva, from the back of Imma, standing behind the head of Ze'ir Anpin down to his chest; the "knot of the tefillin." The night union is with Leah.

A secondary male partzuf from the back of Abba, standing in front of Ze'ir Anpin from the chest downward; unites with Rachel. Distinguished from Yisrael, the full Ze'ir Anpin.

Ze'ir Anpin and Nukva together, the pair whose union gives life to the lower worlds. Abbreviated זו״ן or זו״נ.

"Primordial Man." The first and highest world, the Kav shaped as a man, from whose ear, nose, mouth and eyes the lights of Akudim and Nekudim emerge. Abbreviated א״ק.

The Infinite; God as He is before any emanation. Also called the Emanator (Ma'atzil). The light of Ein Sof surrounds everything.

The contraction: Ein Sof withdrew its light from a central point to leave an empty space (chalal) in which the worlds could exist.

The line: a thin ray of light that re-entered the empty space after the tzimtzum and became the source of all the worlds, in circles (igulim) and in a straight line (yosher).

Circles and straightness: the two ways the sefirot are arranged, as concentric circles (the order of nature) and as a straight figure with right, left and middle (the order of man). Gate 1 is about them.

"Bound." The lights of the mouth of Adam Kadmon: ten lights bound together inside one single vessel. The first stage before Nekudim. Gate 6.

"Points." The lights of the eyes of Adam Kadmon: each sefirah as a separate point in its own vessel. Also Olam HaTohu, the World of Chaos; it is where the vessels broke.

"Speckled." The world of Tikun, the repaired order of partzufim that replaced Nekudim. Akudim, Nekudim, Berudim are the three stages named after Yaakov's flocks.

The World of Chaos: the sefirot of Nekudim as separate points with no bond between them, the condition that made the breaking possible.

The World of Repair: the sefirot rebuilt as partzufim that bond with one another, so the light can be held.

Emanation, the highest of the four worlds, where the light is Divine itself and no screen separates the levels. The five partzufim described in Etz Chaim are the partzufim of Atzilut.

Creation, the second world, the world of the Throne and of souls; separated from Atzilut by a screen (masach / parsa).

Formation, the third world, the world of the angels (the Chayot and the "small face" below).

Action, the lowest world, which includes our physical world. Souls of the righteous pass through it on their way up.

The four worlds together: Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, Asiyah. Each lower world is clothed in the Malchut of the one above it.

Light: the Divine flow itself, as opposed to the vessel that holds it. Plural orot.

Vessel: the container that holds a light, the limit that lets it be received. Plural kelim. A vessel is itself a light that has thickened.

Inner light: the part of a light that fits inside the vessel and gives it life from within.

Surrounding light: the part too great to enter the vessel, which hovers outside it; always greater than the inner light. Plural makifin.

Direct light, descending from above, and returning light, reflected back upward when it meets a vessel or screen. Every level is built from both.

The trace: the impression of light left in the empty space after the tzimtzum, like the scent in an emptied flask. The root of the vessels.

Screen or curtain that filters light between worlds. Within Atzilut there is no screen at all; from Beriah downward the light passes through a full screen.

The partition between one world and the next, through which the light passes in a lesser form; the screen at the bottom of Atzilut is the first.

Window: inside Atzilut the light is softened not by a screen but by passing through a "window," the Yesod of the partzuf above, which narrows the stream.

Channel or pipe: light given through a channel arrives measured and can be received; light given openly overwhelms.

The breaking of the vessels: the seven lower sefirot of Nekudim could not hold their light and shattered, one after another. In the language of the text, "the kings who died." Gate 9.

The seven kings who "reigned and died" (Bereshit 36) are the Torah's record of the seven broken vessels. The first, Bela ben Be'or, is Da'at. Gate 11.

Aramaic: "broken vessels," the fragments of the seven kings that fell with sparks inside them.

Sparks of holiness that fell with the broken vessels and remain trapped inside the kelipot. There are 288 (רפ״ח) of them. Raising them is the work of prayer and mitzvot. Aramaic: nitzotzin.

"Shells" or husks: the forces of impurity that grew from the fallen vessels. They have no life of their own; they live on the sparks trapped inside them. Singular kelipah.

The "glowing shell": the one kelipah that is mixed of good and evil and can be raised to holiness. Gate 49.

Clarification, sorting: separating the "food" (usable light) from the "waste" (judgment and shell). The partzufim are built by birur of the broken vessels; prayer continues it.

Repair: the rebuilding of the broken world into partzufim, and every act that continues it. Also "arrangement" (the tikunim of the beard).

Face to face / back to back: a full, direct connection versus a partial, indirect one. Abba and Imma stand face to face always; ZuN only at the times of union.

The "back parts" of a partzuf, its lesser side. The achorayim of Abba and Imma fell in the breaking and became Yaakov and Leah.

Union, coupling: the joining of a male and female partzuf through which new light flows downward. The union of Abba and Imma is constant; that of ZuN depends on arousal from below.

"Feminine waters": the arousal from below (prayer, good deeds, raised sparks, the souls of the righteous) that invites a response from above and makes a union possible. Abbreviated מ״ן.

"Masculine waters": the response from above that answers the feminine waters. Abbreviated מ״ד.

Gestation: the stage in which Ze'ir Anpin is carried inside Imma as "three within three," before birth. There are gestations of seven, nine and twelve months. Gate 28.

Nursing: the twenty-four months after birth in which Imma's "milk" sweetens the judgments and Ze'ir Anpin grows to six full extremities.

"Brains": the lights of Chochmah, Binah and Da'at that enter a partzuf and make it mature. Ze'ir Anpin receives them from Abba and Imma, first of katnut (smallness) and then of gadlut (greatness).

Smallness and greatness: the immature state of a partzuf (mochin of Elohim, judgment) and its mature state (mochin of Havayah). Gate 22.

"Image": the mochin of Ze'ir Anpin in their three levels, the letters tzadi, lamed, mem. The mem and lamed are surrounding, the tzadi enters within. Gates 23 to 26.

The "sawing apart": the Nukva, first attached to the back of Ze'ir Anpin, is separated so the two can turn and stand face to face. Enacted on the days of Rosh Hashanah. Gate 29.

Clothing: a higher partzuf is "clothed" inside a lower one, its NeHiY becoming the mochin of the one below. The way levels connect.

Inclusion: each sefirah contains all ten, and each is "included" in the others; the gestation counts (three within three) are built from it.

Circuits: the seven circuits around the bimah on Hoshana Rabbah enact the seven surrounding lights that Malchut receives.

Abundance, flow: the life-giving influence that descends from level to level.

Cantillation marks, vowel points, crowns and letters: four levels of the Torah's writing that mirror four levels of light in Adam Kadmon. Abbreviated טנת״א. Gate 5.

Breath: the breath that goes out of the mouth, ears, nose and eyes of a partzuf and becomes light for the level below; the breath of Yesod became the mochin of Abba and Imma.

Kisses: the union of the mouths of Abba and Imma, two kisses and two breaths, from which the chasadim and gevurot of Ze'ir Anpin come.

The "electrum" of Yechezkel's vision: the garment of Imma that surrounds and protects Ze'ir Anpin from the kelipot. Gate 41.

Inwardness and outwardness: every level has an inner side (soul, light) and an outer side (body, vessel); the outer of the upper clothes the inner of the lower. Gate 40.

The four-letter Name, yud heh vav heh, written in the text as הוי״ה. Its letters are the five partzufim: the tip of the yud is Arich Anpin, yud Abba, first heh Imma, vav Ze'ir Anpin, last heh Nukva.

"Filling": spelling each letter of a Name out in full (yud = yud vav dalet). The four fillings of Havayah give the Names Ab, Sag, Mah, Ban.

The four fillings of Havayah by their numerical value: 72 (with yuds), 63, 45 (with alefs), 52 (with hehs). They map to the four worlds and to the four levels of Adam Kadmon; Ban is the broken world, Mah the repairing one.

The Name "I will be" (Shemot 3:14), the Name of Binah / Imma. Its fillings with yud (161), heh (151) and alef (143) appear throughout the gematria of the text.

The Name of judgment, the Name of Binah and of the gevurot; the mochin of katnut are mochin of Elohim. Written in the text as אלהי״ם.

The Name of Yesod and of the breasts (shadayim) of Imma; 314 = 72 + 216 + 26.

The Name Adonai, the Name of Malchut, the vessel that receives Havayah; the two interlaced form the yichud of the Shema.

The value of the Name of 72 (Havayah filled with yuds) and of the 72 three-letter Names from "Vayisa, Vayavo, Vayet" (Shemot 14). The right side; 216 (רי״ו) is its left, the value of Gevurah.

The numerical value of letters (alef 1 to tav 400). Etz Chaim uses it constantly to show that two things share a root. "With the kolel" adds one for the word itself.

The tip of the yud: the small stroke above the yud of the Name, which stands for Keter / Arich Anpin, above the four letters.

The three lower levels of the soul (abbreviated נר״ן), with Chayah and Yechidah above them (נרנח״י). They correspond to Asiyah, Yetzirah, Beriah and above.

The Divine presence: Malchut, the Nukva, as she dwells in the world. Built from what fell from Imma, just as Torah (Ze'ir Anpin) was built from what fell from Abba.

"Falling on the face" after the Amidah: we give our soul over, descend to where the sparks lie, and raise them to Rachel as Mayin Nukvin.

The unification of the Name in the Shema: ZuN rise into Abba and Imma and raise the fallen sparks to Binah, as Mayin Nukvin for the union above. Abbreviated ק״ש.

Intention: the inner direction of a prayer or mitzvah toward the Names and partzufim it affects. Plural kavanot.

The ten sages killed by Rome, read on Yom Kippur and Tishah BeAv. Their deaths raised sparks that sin had made impossible to raise.

The righteous one: Yesod, "the tzadik is the foundation of the world." Also the souls of the righteous, who raise sparks at their passing.

Chariot: to become a merkavah is to be a vehicle for the Divine, the purpose for which creatures were created.

"The head that is not known": the highest of the three heads of Arich Anpin / Atik, beyond all grasp. Abbreviated רדל״א.

"The hidden brain": the third head of Arich Anpin, the Chochmah of Arich Anpin. Abbreviated מו״ס.

The skull: the Keter of Arich Anpin, with its seven tikunim (skull, dew, membrane, will of wills, pure wool, the ever-open eye, nose).

The beard of Arich Anpin, with thirteen tikunim that are the thirteen attributes of mercy (Shemot 34). Two of them, the mazalot, are the source of the mochin.

"Flow": the eighth and thirteenth tikunim of the beard, Notzer and Nakeh, through which the mochin of Abba and Imma, and then of ZuN, are drawn.

The three heads of Arich Anpin: the unknown head, Ayin (Keter), and the hidden brain, corresponding to Keter, Chochmah, Binah.

"Reaching and not reaching": the pulsing of the light of Akudim, which touches the vessel and withdraws, so that the vessel is made. Gate 7.

"Three within three": the folded state of Ze'ir Anpin in gestation, each of its three lower sefirot included in the three upper ones.

The "threshing floor": the two assemblies of the Zohar, Idra Rabba and Idra Zuta, where the partzufim are described. Etz Chaim quotes them constantly.

The four letters yud yud alef yud, the "face" of the Name Sag, whose value is 31, like the Name El.

Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (1534 to 1572), the Arizal, whose teachings in Tzfat are the content of Etz Chaim. Abbreviated האר״י or האריז״ל.

The Ari's foremost student (1543 to 1620), who wrote down his teachings. Etz Chaim is his arrangement of them. Abbreviated מהרח״ו or רח״ו.

The central text of Kabbalah, attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Etz Chaim reads itself as its explanation.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the tanna to whom the Zohar is attributed.

The tanna whose martyrdom is read on Yom Kippur; "thus it arose in thought before Me" was said of him. One of the Ten Martyrs.

A kabbalist cited in Shaar HaKlalim 1 for an alternative counting of the seven surrounding lights of Malchut.

The ancient "Book of Formation," source of the ten sefirot and the five outlets of the mouth (throat, palate, tongue, teeth, lips).

The midrash on Bereshit, quoted for "He builds worlds and destroys them" and "the fallen fruit of supernal Chochmah is Torah." Abbreviated בר״ר.

Ein Sof, the Infinite

Adam Kadmon

The four worlds: Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, Asiyah

The ten sefirot

The ten sefirot

Keter, Chochmah, Binah

Chochmah, Binah, Da'at (the mochin)

Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet

Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach

Netzach, Hod, Yesod

Hod, Yesod, Malchut

Chesed and Gevurah

Chochmah and Binah

Netzach and Hod

Tiferet

Malchut

The first three (Keter, Chochmah, Binah)

The lower seven (Chesed to Malchut)

The six extremities (Chesed to Yesod)

The five chasadim

The five gevurot

Arich Anpin

Most often "by means of" (al yedei); sometimes Atik Yomin. Context decides.

Abba and Imma

Ze'ir Anpin

Nukva

Ze'ir Anpin and Nukva

Ze'ir Anpin and Nukva

Yisrael Saba

The unknown head

The hidden brain

The 288 sparks

Inner light

Surrounding light

Inner light

Surrounding light

Direct light

Returning light

Face to face

Back to back

Face to back

Feminine waters (arousal from below)

Feminine waters

Masculine waters (response from above)

Kelipah, shell

Cantillation, vowels, crowns, letters

Gestation, nursing, mochin

Aspect, level

The "other side" (impurity), or, in brackets, "other editions read"

Another reading (variant text)

The four-letter Name (Havayah)

The Name Ehyeh

The Name Elohim

The Name Shadai

The Name Adonai

The Name of 72 (also: page side b, amud bet)

The Name of 63

The Name of 45

The Name of 52

216, the value of Gevurah; 72 + 216 = 288

Ehyeh filled with yuds

Ehyeh filled with hehs

Ehyeh filled with alefs

Gematria (numerical value)

Initials, acronym

Final letters of words

The reading of the Shema

The Amidah (the Eighteen)

Letters with a geresh are numbers: א׳ 1, ב׳ 2, ג׳ 3, ד׳ 4, ה׳ 5, ו׳ 6, ז׳ 7, ח׳ 8, ט׳ 9, י׳ 10

12 (likewise י״ג 13, י״ד 14, כ״ד 24)

The letter alef spelled out (alef lamed peh), as in a milui

The letter heh spelled with heh (heh heh); likewise ה״י (heh yud) and ה״א (heh alef)

The letter heh spelled heh yud (as in the Names Ab and Sag)

The letter heh spelled heh alef (as in the Name Mah)

The letter yud spelled out (yud vav dalet)

The letter vav spelled vav alef vav (as in Mah); ו״ו (vav vav) and וי״ו (vav yud vav) are the other spellings

The letter vav spelled vav vav (as in Ban)

The letter dalet spelled out (dalet lamed tav)

The letter lamed spelled out (lamed mem dalet)

The letter mem spelled out (mem mem)

The letter nun spelled out (nun vav nun)

The letter peh spelled out (peh heh)

"With hehs": a Name whose letters are filled with heh (Ehyeh deHehin = 151; Havayah deHehin = Ban, 52)

"With yuds": a Name filled with yud (Ehyeh deYudin = 161; Havayah deYudin = Ab, 72)

"With alefs": a Name filled with alef (Ehyeh deAlfin = 143; Havayah deAlfin = Mah, 45)

The Name El (31), the right side of Elohim; also the right breast, El-dad

Mi, "who" (50): the left side of Elohim, Binah as the fifty gates; the left breast, Mi-dad

Good and evil

And through this

Through this

All this

Is called

Sefirot (an apostrophe shortens a word)

Partzufim

The mnemonic for the seven tikunim of the skull of Arich Anpin

Initials of "Blessed is the glory of Hashem from His place," read as "they weep"

Meaning, that is

That is to say

In the manner of

In this manner

As mentioned above

The above-mentioned

The mentioned

As it is written

What is written / what we said

And this is the secret of

This is the secret of

Also

Afterward

Even though

Nevertheless

Nevertheless

In any case

Which is not the case with

On its own

If so

And if you ask

Heaven forbid

Good deeds

This world

The world to come

With God's help

May He be blessed

May His Name be blessed

The Holy One, blessed be He

Blessed be He

Of blessed memory

Our Sages of blessed memory

Our Sages said

That our Sages said

Peace be upon him

Moshe Rabbenu

Rabbi Akiva

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai

The Ari (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria)

Rabbi Chaim Vital

Bereshit Rabbah

See there

Up to here / therefore

Etc.

Etc.

The paragraph beginning (a citation)

Part two (of the Zohar)

Page 3 (likewise ד״ה page 5)

Side a of a page

Parashat (the Torah portion)